Motor-cycle oil-tank.



' W. S: HARLEY. MOTOR CYCLE OIL TANK.

APPLIOATION FILED APB..1 0, 191a.

Patented Mar. 17, 1-914.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

SJHARIBY. mo'ron OYGLE OIL mm. APPLIGATION TILED APR. 10, 1913.1,090,53%. Patented Mar.17,1914

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITE] WILLIAM s. HARLEY, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

srs ran Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 10, 1913. Serial No. 760,205.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM S. HARLEY, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented cer-' tam new and useful Improvements in M0.

tor-Cycle Oil-Tanks, and I do hereby de- Clare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention refers to motorcycle oil tanks, its primary object being toprovide a simple, efiective and economically con structed tank of theabove character, whereby the tank can be readilymounted upon the frame.

The specific object of my invention is to provide a tank that is formedin two separable longitudinally,disposed sections or cinpartl'nents thatare adapted to sandwich the reach-bars of a motorcycle, and to providemeans for attaching the same in nested arrangement about said reach-barsbetween the head and seat-mast thereof, whereby they present unitaryappearance and at the same time are rigidly held in place, each tankmember being provided with the ordinary filling necks and valvecontrolled feed discharge nipples.

\Yith the above objects in view the invention consists in certainpeculiarities of construction and combination of parts as set forthhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequentlyclaimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a tank embodyingthe fea tures of my invention, the same being illustrated attached tothe reach-bars of amotorcycle; Fig 2, a plan view of the tank; Fig. 3,,a sectional elevation of the same with parts broken away below the planeof the section to more clearly illustrate certain structural features,the said section being indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Figs. 4 and5, detailed cross-sections of the tank and frame members, the sectionsbeing indicated by lines 4----l and 5-5- respectively of Fig. 3.

Referrin b characters to the drawin s A represents the cluster-bracketof a steering-head and I the seat-mast clusterbracket of a standard typeof motorcycle frame, the head and'mast brackets being connected by upperand lower reach-bars C, D, respectively. These reach-bars are adapted tosupport separable rectangular tank compartments 1 and 2, which separablecompartments sandwich the reach-bars. The compartment 1 isdesigned to beutilized for the storage of .the volatile fuel oil, while the tankcompartment 2 serves as a reservoir for lubricating oil, each tankc0mpartment being for the most part fiat and in rectangular form. Thetop walls 3, 4, of the compartments are tapered rearwardly for a,predetermined distance to conform to the oblique stretch of the upperreach-bar C, the said top walls being provided with inwardly extendingflanges 3, 4, respectively, which flanges overlap each other and arenested over the upper reach-bar which serves as a suspensions-upport'for the tank. members. In order to form asolidsuspen-v sionbase for the support of the tank com partments a longitudinally disposedstrap 5 is interposed between-the lower face of the inner flange 3 andthe upper circular face of the reach -tube C, the said nested flangesand strap being secured to the reachbar by retaining screws 6 that arein threaded union with the bar and thus serve to bind the several partsrigidly together. The inner side walls 7, 7, of the tank compartments land 2, at their ends, engage the opposite faces of the cluster-bracketnecks A, B, that are provided for the reception of the upper and lowerreach-bars and the side-wall 7 of the fuel oil tank 1 is also providedwith a rectangular offset pocket 1, which pocket is nested between thereach-bars and thus fills up the intervening space, whereby the capacityof said fuel oil tank is increased, advantage being thus taken of allspace so as to compactly increase the capacity of the tank, while at thesame time the tank members and their contents will be suspended andpractically balanced with relation to the reach tubes. It will also beobserved that the upper and lower walls of the pocket 1, at their ends,will engage the bracketnecks A, B, respectively, and thus assist: inpreventing the tank from vibrating in a vertical direction.

The lower inner corner of each tank is provided with a series ofdepending cars 8 for the reception of clamping bolts 9, which bolts passunder the lower reach-bar and secure the bottom portions of thetank-111mm bers in clamped engagement with said reach-bars, whereby thetank members are heldrigid transversegy of the frame. Hence it will beseen that n assembling the sepa- Patented Mar. 1a, 1914.

rable tank members that they are first fitted to the opposite sides ofthe reach-bars with their flanges 3, 4L, overlapping each other andresting upon the filler strip 5.' Thereafter the retaining screws 6 areinserted to rigidly secure the tank members in their suspended position,which members now present a unitary appearance and entirely conceal thebars that are incased therebetween. The retaining bolts 9 aretheninserted whereby the tank members are securely clamped transversely tocomplete the assemblage.

It should be understood that each tank compartment is provided with acap-closed filling neck '10 and a valve-controlled discharge nipple 11,which nipples are in pipe connection with the source of feed-deliveryand, as shown, said tank members are also provided with series ofbaffle-plates 12 whichare-connected to the outer walls of theirrespective compartments and also connected together by brace-strips 12in series. The tanks are also provided with front and rear obliquelydisposed batflle-plates 13. The en- I tire assemblage of said platesserve to prevent undue sluicing of the tank contents and also serve toadd rigidity to the Walls of said tanks. The'fianges 3, 4, of the tankcompartments are recessed at one point to permit clearance of aseat-supporting bracket 14, whichbracket projects from the upperreach-bar and serves as an anchorage point for a saddle-bar, not shown.

I claim:

1. In a motorcycle frame having upper and'lower horizontally disposedreach-bars; the combination of an oil reservior formed from two flat,separable tank members adapted to sandwich said bars, the tank membersbeing'provided with lapped flanges that are nested over the upperreach-bar, whereby the tank members are suspended, means for securingthe top flanges to the.

reach-bar, and other means' for transversely clamping the tank membersand incased reach-bars together.

2. In a motorcycle frame having upper and lower reach-bars; thecombination of an oil reservoir composed of separable tank members,flanges extending from the tank members for engagement with the upperreach-bar, means for securing the flanges to said reach-bar, an offsetpocket extending from one of the tank members between the reach-bars,and means for transversely glamping the tank members to the incased ars.

3..In a motorcycle frame having upper and lower horizontally disposedreach-bars;

the combination of an oilreservoir formed from duplicate flat separabletank members adapted to sandwich said bars, the tank members beingprovided with lapped flanges that are nested over the upper reaclrbar,whereby the tank members are suspended, means for securing the topflanges to the reach-bar, ears extending from the tank members below thebottom reach-bar, and clamping bolts connecting the ears.

4. In a motorcycle frame having an upper and lower horizontally disposedreach-bar; the combination of a pair of flat, separable tank membersincasing the reach-bars the same being duplicates in their exterioroutlines, one of said tank members being provided with an offset pocketbetween the bars, v

and means for securing the tank members to the bars.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atMilwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin in thepresence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM S. HARLEY.

Witnesses:

E. MUELLER, EDWIN F. CASPER.

